Mall owners and retail tenants alike are ready to fully welcome shoppers back into their centers. Many are doing this by appealing to the customer’s need for an aesthetically pleasing sensory experience, especially via unique art installations. With shoppers more than ready to get out of their humdrum quarantine mindset and into lively stores and restaurants, look for malls to match this exuberant spirit with thrilling artistic displays. Exciting art can lift a customer’s mood, elevating the basic “trip to the mall” to something more meaningful, thought-provoking and ultimately fun. Art displays can rotate regularly, giving shoppers of all ages new visually-stimulating experiences that they can continue to look forward to. With the Gen Z and millennial crowd eager to post photos on Instagram that feature new and unusual backdrops, malls that feature entertaining artistic experiences are guaranteed to capture the demographic, while receiving free advertising through social media posts.
At the Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio, managed by Steiner & Associates, local artists were commissioned to paint murals and produce art exhibits, collectively dubbed “Art Evolution,” which are sprinkled throughout the center’s latest expansion area, called the Urban District. The new area was specifically designed to have an urban, edgy appearance, with intentionally curved streets meandering throughout the center, as well as alleyways separating the restaurant and storefronts with exterior walls that feature the curated art. The unique art displays are meant to enhance the shopper’s experience, while providing a shared connection to the local artistic community. Art featured includes “The Leviathan,” a large-scale painted mural of a chained-up, mythical water monster creature, the “Bike Arch” installation in which brightly painted metal bicycles literally arch over a walkway, and “Maiden Shield: Strength in Numbers,” an installation reflecting women’s strength that combines aluminum and sycamore bark with braille messaging on its surface.
The art complements the Easton Town Center’s new $500M, 30-acre Urban District development section, which will ultimately also include residential units. New tenants in this new section include the 38,000-s.f. Pins Mechanical Company, a bowling, pinball machine and bar brand, that combined its space with 16-Bit Bar + Arcade, a classic arcade and bar destination. The entertainment venue opened in March. Additionally in February, the 14,000-s.f. LemonShark Poké & Makai Grill opened a two-story restaurant with a rooftop deck, and the restaurant also combines the two separate brands of LemonShark Poké, and Makai Grill. Slurping Turtle, a ramen and sushi restaurant, also opened a 4,000-s.f. unit in the Urban District in December.
Brookfield Properties introduced a traveling art installation, called “The Meerkat Meetup,” that mixes playfulness with environmental awareness. The installation, which began in late May and will conclude in November, will be displayed for a month at a time at 10 different Brookfield Properties’ malls, in nine different states. The installation consists of 30, 4-foot tall brightly colored meerkat sculptures made of recyclable plastic. According to the Italian-based Cracking Art Group, the collective of international artists responsible for creating the sculptures, its goal is to not only provide a sense of pleasure, wonder and joy, but to also promote the removal of toxic materials from our environment. Meerkats were the animals represented because they are not only cute and playful but also work together well as a community. The Meerkat Meetup is currently having its debut at The Shoppes at Carlsbad in Carlsbad, Calif., in the center of the mall, outside of an H&M store, and in a spot where Macy’s, Zara and JCPenney all converge.
Another Brookfield Properties shopping center, the Fashion Show mall in Las Vegas, is featuring a limited time pop-up shop that showcases the work of local abstract freestyle pop artist Adam Rellah, whose stage name is “Pretty Done.” Well-known for his DJ-ing skills, during the COVID-19 shutdowns Pretty Done was not able to get any gigs, so he began to focus more on his visual art skills. When the pop-up display was being created over six days in May, shoppers could actively watch Pretty Done doodle over every surface of the pop-up area, including its ceilings. The display, titled “Pretty in Ink” has a “Summertime Happiness” theme, according to Pretty Done, and he aims to spread positivity, fun and joy to all who view his abstract character doodles. The exhibit remains on display until Aug. 13 on the mall’s upper level, just outside of Neiman Marcus and close to Macy’s.
At the Bell Tower mixed-use mall in Ft. Myers, Fla., developed by Madison Marquette, art has taken on a fun competitive angle through the shopping center’s “Battle of the Arts” event, which takes place the second Saturday of every month, beginning this month and ending in December. The event is organized by Artsemble Underground, an art gallery/live art installation and event planning business that in February leased a 4,681-s.f. former Jos. A. Bank unit in the mall. For the event, local artists sign up to complete the painting of a canvas in three hours, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., outside of the Artsemble Underground store. Two prizes are then awarded per month: a People’s Choice Award, decided by mall attendees who can vote by purchasing a ballot in which the proceeds go to a local charity, and an All Star Award, decided by a panel of three judges. The All Star winners each month then compete at a grand finale event in December, in which the ultimate winner is awarded a solo art show at the city’s Capital Gallery, located at the Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center. During these monthly Battle of the Arts events, there is also live music performed by local musicians, and mall guests are able to enjoy the ambience while visiting the mall’s restaurants, bars and shops. Notable tenants at Bell Tower include Dave & Buster’s, Bath & Body Works, ULTA Beauty and The Fresh Market.
